DISCLOSURES LAST WEEK by former Democratic Party fund-raiser
Johnny Chung that he funneled thousands of dollars from a
Chinese military officer into the 1996 reelection campaign of
Bill Clinton and Al Gore are so serious that even some
Democrats are emerging from behind their stone wall to
express concern.

Chung, who is cooperating with investigators into the Chinese
campaign cash connection, received $300,000 from a
People's Liberation Army lieutenant colonel, whose father
recently had retired as China's top military commander.
Chung says he was told to use the money for campaign
contributions. Chung says he sent $100,000 to the
Democratic National Committee, apparently keeping the rest
for himself.

Chung's information seems to corroborate a claim by Sen.
Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.), who said at the start of hearings on
campaign-finance-law violations last July that he had
uncovered evidence that the Chinese government had
influenced the 1996 U.S. election. Democrats -- along with
suspects who fled the country, took the Fifth Amendment or
refused to speak with investigators -- successfully blunted the
investigation. Thompson was left to say in a final report from
his committee that there was "strong circumstantial
evidence" that China contributed to the 1996 Democratic
campaign.

That evidence now is far more than circumstantial, and
Republicans, united for a change, want to know if China got
anything for its money. They are suspicious, despite repeated
administration denials of any quid pro quo, because the
Clinton administration in 1996 made it easier for American
civilian communication satellites to be launched by Chinese
rockets. Disturbingly, American technology is being used not
only to modernize Chinese weapons but also has been shared
with our adversaries, such as Iran and Pakistan. The Justice
Department had opposed waivers by the president for
satellite technology, fearing China might use our space
expertise to more accurately target long-range missiles at the
United States. The Chinese once boasted they could bomb
downtown Los Angeles.

House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Senate Majority Leader
Trent Lott have expressed alarm about the latest disclosures.
They want to hold a series of hearings before Clinton leaves
for China late next month. As usual, the administration has
refused to provide documentation to refute their concerns.
Gingrich said, "If the president won't share the information
with the Congress on these matters, then he and his
administration are guilty. They can't use defense-attorney
techniques and blatant obstruction to block matters of
national security."

Some congressional Democrats are speaking up. Rep. Henry
Waxman of California, who has been a strong Clinton
defender as the ranking member on Rep. Dan Burton's
(R-Ind.) Government Reform and Oversight Committee, said:
"If what's reported is true, it's very troubling. This would be
the first solid evidence that the Chinese government was
implementing a plan to influence our elections."

Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), who was on the Thompson
committee, said, "Our investigation put a lot of dots on the
canvas that suggested something very wrong had happened.
But if this is correct, this information begins to connect those
dots."

In their book, The Coming Conflict With China New York
Times reporter Richard Bernstein and former Time Magazine
Hong Kong bureau chief Ross Munro warn that China will
soon be the world's second most powerful military giant. They
also indict American companies which, in order to make huge
profits, are selling China merchandise that undermines the
interests of their own country and of free people everywhere.
They write: "If China remains aggressive and the United
States naive, the looming conflict between the two countries
could even lead to military hostilities."

Do we want to provide China with the expertise and
weaponry we may someday have to fight against? Should
Americans be placed at risk by weapons and technology
made in the U.S.A. and sold by corporations interested only in
fattening their bottom lines and by a president interested
solely in reelection?

Chung's testimony is "specific and credible evidence" that
demands an independent counsel to investigate what could
be the selling out of America by this administration. In
wartime this would qualify as treason and an impeachable
offense. The offense is equally heinous in peacetime.